The Journey
by bobbilicious
Summary: Set 50 years after the ring is destroyed, the great-grandaughters of Merry and Sam are best friends, along with Fredegar Proudfoot, and looking for adventure around Middle Earth. Adventure for now, possibly some romance later.


A small orange beam of sunlight started to luminate the young face of Enelya  
  
Gamgee. She slowly opened her large, green eyes and blinked a few times, before  
  
stretching in the sunlight. She sat up and stood next to her mirror, picking up her  
  
brush to tame her wild red curls. She hummed happily as she continued to brush her  
  
soft hair.  
  
A quiet tap on her door finally broke the peaceful silence and called out,  
  
"Enelya, you have a couple visitors to see you. Come out please." Her mother always  
  
had such a soothing voice, and she gently placed her brush down on the table.  
  
"I will be there in a moment, mother. I have almost finished up." she answered  
  
back, continuing to hum as she picked up a day gown. It was nothing special, they  
  
may have been quite up there in the wealth of hobbits, mostly because of her great  
  
grandfather had been on a special fellowship that landed their family with Bag End  
  
many years ago. She put on the small green dress and tied it carefully to her. She then  
  
walked over to the door and opened it. Waiting inches away were her two best of  
  
friends: Daisy Brandybuck and Fredegar Proudfoot.  
  
Daisy and Enelya had been best friends for their entire lives and Enelya always  
  
envied Daisy's beautiful golden hair and lovely blue eyes to accent it. Daisy was never  
  
into making herself look beautiful however, and she neglected her wondrous looks to  
  
a mud smeared wardrobe. Fredegar was a handsome hobbit, short brown curls of hair  
  
and deep brown eyes. He somewhat resembled his great uncle, Peregrine Took, but he  
  
was different in his own way.  
  
"Take long enough?" Daisy asked sarcastically. She beamed and took Enelya's  
  
hand. "We are going to..you-know-where today." she whispered, dragging her down  
  
the hallway. Fredegar followed behind, trying his best to keep a straight face. "Now if  
  
we can only make it out before.." she was cut off suddenly by Enelya's father,  
  
blocking the door.  
  
"And where you all think you're goin' to?" he snapped. They all exchanged  
  
nervous glances and finally Fredegar spoke up.  
  
"I have promised to take these two..." he looked back to them for a second and  
  
saw Enelya mouth the word "fish". "..a day of fishing! Fishing at this new little pond I  
  
found just outside of town, and we should really get moving so that those fish will  
  
still be hungry and.." he stopped talking as he saw the disapproving face of her father  
  
still haunting.  
  
"Enelya is NOT allowed to leave Hobbiton..WHATSOEVER! Now, if you two  
  
would like ter go fishin' without her then go. She is not leavin' with you today." he  
  
narrowed his eyes threateningly at Daisy and Fredegar. Daisy nodded.  
  
"Come Fredegar, we shall go on without her, and let the butterflies dance  
  
alone today." she turned to Enelya's worried face and winked, flashing a quick smile.  
  
She nodded to Enelya's father and lead Fredegar outside and down away from Bag  
  
End.  
  
"What did you do that for? We could have stayed with her.." Fredegar started,  
  
stopping in his tracks. Daisy rolled her eyes and dragged him farther.  
  
"She is going to climb out of her window and meet us behind the Green  
  
Dragon before lunch. We will fetch the horses and await her there." she announced,  
  
pulling along a still confused Fredegar.  
  
"She is gonna what? How do you know?" Fredegar questioned, now following  
  
Daisy freely.  
  
"Didn't you listen to me? I told her to 'let the butterflies dance alone today.'"  
  
she looked at his still confused face. "That is our code for get out and meet me before  
  
lunch today at the Green Dragon. We made that one up years ago." she answered, still  
  
aimed for the pony barn. Fredegar just shook his head and stopped asking questions.   
  
Meanwhile, Enelya started to sip her morning tea, placing it down on a small  
  
wooden coaster. "May I be excused? I do not feel very well today." she fakely whined.  
  
"Of course, dear." her mother replied, walking over to her. "I will bring you to  
  
bed and settle you in." she smiled, taking her hand. Enelya smiled in return and  
  
walked back down the corridor to her room, flopping down on her bed. "I hope you  
  
feel better soon." her mother said, kissing her forehead softly. "I will make sure you  
  
are left alone." she smiled, closing the door slowly.  
  
'Wait for it...wait for it...' she thought, listening to the sounds of her mother's  
  
footprints fade. 'Now!' she thought, rushing over to pack a few things into her sack.  
  
She then looked back once, quickly and popped open her small window, easily  
  
squeezing out of it. She took in a deep breath. "Free at last." she whispered to herself.  
  
She slung her pack over her shoulder and darted off down the back hill, making sure  
  
she wouldn't be seen. She took her usual route to the Green Dragon and when she  
  
arrived, she saw two ponies beside two familiar figures. She smiled.  
  
"Glad to see you could make it." Fredegar announced happily. "There were  
  
only two ponies left, so you and Daisy are going to share a horse." he exclaimed,  
  
taking her sack and tying it to the side of his horse's saddle. She nodded and climbed  
  
up the other horse, pulling Daisy up behind her.   
  
"Well, no more time to lose. We should arrive in Mirkwood in an hour or so.  
  
Are you two ready for this?" Enelya questioned, looking back to the two nodding  
  
heads. "Good. Daisy, did you get the swords?" Daisy nodded and handed Enelya a  
  
sword. She took it and tied it to her side, then grabbed the reins and kicked the pony  
  
to a quick gallop. Fredegar followed suit.  
  
They rode on in silence for the rest of the daylight hours, Enelya looking back  
  
every now and then to make sure no one followed them. No one did. She saw the  
  
trees of Mirkwood come into view and kicked her horse faster, only to stop at the  
  
very edge. Fredegar stopped his horse beside hers. "Where to now?" he asked.  
  
Enelya looked around through the dark forest, then saw a marker for the  
  
direction at which they wanted to go: to the elves. "This way." she answered finally,  
  
kicking her horse into a gallop again. Fredegar sighed and followed her again, now  
  
unsure of the safety he felt in these woods. His hands graced the tip of his bow and  
  
then an arrow, he was prepared to draw them out as soon as needed.  
  
"Enelya, are you sure you know where we are going?" Daisy asked concernedly.  
  
Enelya did not hear her, the sounds of the horse had emptied her mind and blocked  
  
all outside sound. She focused closer to the dark clusters of leaves they were  
  
approaching, noticing a few fainted specks of white poke out of some.  
  
'Something happened here. It killed a troll. It must have been dangerous.'  
  
Enelya thought to herself. 'I hope we can get there soon.' She took in a deep breath,  
  
and then exhaled, just as an arrow whirred by her ear. Her heart almost stopped. She  
  
squinted a bit to the direction of the arrow and saw a small pointed ear. "Goblins." she  
  
said aloud, not really to Daisy, but just loud enough so that she might hear.  
  
"Goblins?" she replied, as if in a daze. Another arrow whirred by them, this one  
  
just brushing Daisy's shoulder. She gasped in pain and put her hand to her shoulder,  
  
seeing it bleed a bit. Her head felt light from the sight of her blood and she held a bit  
  
tighter to Enelya, staining Enelya's dress with her fresh blood.  
  
Fredegar pulled out his bow and arrow immediately after an arrow whirred by  
  
him. He looked for a moment, then spotted the culprit. He released an arrow and  
  
shot the goblin in the neck, causing it to fall over. He drew another arrow and  
  
scanned the area, sending another arrow in the chest of another goblin. He looked  
  
around and saw them start to retreat, he felt more relaxed about this. He put away his  
  
bow and grabbed the reins again, pulling his horse close to Daisy and Enelya's.  
  
Enelya felt Daisy's grip tighten and looked down to her hands. She saw blood  
  
and her heart skipped a beat. "Daisy..are you all right?" she asked nervously.  
  
"I'm...pain...shoulder...it is bleeding.." she attempted to explain. She rested her  
  
head on Enelya's back and looked to the side that was not bleeding. She then took in  
  
a deep breath, and closed her eyes.  
  
'Hold on Daisy..we will stop as soon as we are far enough away from those  
  
goblins.' she thought to herself, wondering when that would be. She kept going for  
  
another ten minutes or so and then decided to stop.   
  
She pulled her horse over to a stream and let it drink, and she slid down and  
  
aided Daisy. Daisy's shoulder was now stained with dry blood, though the wound was  
  
not very serious at all. "Do you want me to get you some water, Daisy?" Enelya asked,  
  
as Daisy sat down. Daisy nodded blankly and stared at the ground. Fredegar also lead  
  
his horse to the stream, then walked over to Daisy.  
  
"Are you okay, Daisy?" Fredegar asked, slightly concerned. She nodded, not  
  
releasing the stare on the ground. He shrugged and walked over next to Enelya,  
  
kneeling down about ten feet away from her and filling his water. "How about you,  
  
Enelya, are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine, but we cant stay here too long. They might find us again." she  
  
answered, wetting her face with the cool water.  
  
"All right then.." Fredegar answered, focusing in on his water again. He sat  
  
down and took a long drink from the water, sighing when he had finished it off. He  
  
then filled it up again for a second round.  
  
Enelya, however, had only taken a small sip of the water before she started to  
  
feel odd. She thought nothing of it and decided to take another sip, and the second  
  
made her feel worse. Then the haunting memory of the cursed stream of Mirkwood  
  
tale refreshed her mind. She remembered her father ranting on about it.   
  
"The maiden took but one sip of the water and started to hallucinate. Then she  
  
plunged into the water to find it quite deep. Deep enough so that a mysterious  
  
monster lurked in it, waiting for young maidens to become hypnotized into coming  
  
towards it. Then.." her father would then shake his head.   
  
She shook her head. 'Nonsense.' she told herself. 'That was just a tale to scare  
  
me with. Just so I'd never come here.' she thought, deciding it true. She leaned  
  
foreword again to see something odd..somethign was shining in the water. She  
  
reached her hand down to pick it up, but found the water deeper than it appeared to  
  
be. She leaned in a bit more and stretched her arm as far as it would go without her  
  
having to go under, and just as she was about to give in and take her arm back, it was  
  
grabbed.  
  
She pulled hard to get her arm free, but it failed. The creature pulled hard and  
  
she gave a small yelp and came splashing into the water. This caught Fredegar's eye.  
  
"Enelya!" he shouted, drawing his sword. He looked down at the large creature and  
  
took a deep breath, diving in after her.   
  
She kicked as hard as she could, hitting the dark tentacle-like thing holding her  
  
but nothing worked. She felt a start of lack of air and flailed around, helpless to the  
  
creature. She saw Fredegar's figure rush towards her and looked at him with panic in  
  
her eyes. She saw his raised sword and felt the grip release as he chopped off the  
  
tentacle binding her. She kicked off to the surface and climbed out of the water as fast  
  
as she could. Fredegar followed her, sliding out just as the beast whipped a tentacle his  
  
way. He drew his sword again and sliced off another tentacle, causing the beast to go  
  
back down to its bottom dwelling. But something was still not right; Enelya was  
  
crying, and he soon found out why.  
  
"Daisy!" she cried, kneeling down to where she had last left her. "Something  
  
got her!" she cried out again. Fredegar knelt down next to her and examined the  
  
footprints.  
  
"Looks like..something grabbed her, picked her up.." he stood up and started  
  
to follow the tracks. "...and brought her this way." he added, continuing to follow the  
  
tracks.   
  
Enelya wiped her face and looked up to her pony. She grabbed the saddle and  
  
hoisted herself up. "We should follow the tracks on horseback." she mumbled to  
  
Fredegar. "It will be quicker." Fredegar paused, looked up to Enelya and nodded.  
  
They both kept a tight eye on the tracks in front of them and watched as they  
  
prints turned into horseprints. They followed them silently for about an hour, then  
  
they both stopped and jaws dropped as they discovered where they had led to.  
  
A bright, pure light seemed to surround the palace of the Mirkwood elves.  
  
They both dismounted their horses and walked up to the large gates. There, a few  
  
gaurds were alerted and walked down to Fredegar and Enelya. "What buisness brings  
  
two halflings t othe Mirkwood elves?" he questioned, a hint of anger in his tone.  
  
"We have reason to believe our friend has been captured and brought here."  
  
Fredegar replied, trying his best to keep his ground. The gaurd looked slightly puzzled,  
  
untill a second elf came out and bowed a quick greeting.  
  
"Forgive us, you must be the company of the poisoned halfling." he calmly  
  
explained. "Please, do come in. You shall be our guests of honor." he smiled,  
  
extending his hand to Enelya. She took it with an uneasy smile.  
  
"I only wish to see Daisy." she requested to the elf. He nodded.  
  
"Your friend is resting right now, you shall indeed be able to see her when she  
  
is better." he answered, leading her down an extravigant hallway. Fredegar hesitantly  
  
followed close behind. "Come, the king will want to meet you." he smiled.  
  
'The king?' Enelya thought nervously. 'I am to meet the king of the Mirkwood  
  
elves? I can't believe it.' This cleared her mind temporoarily of her friend's ailment,  
  
filling her heart with thoughts about what this king would look like, she had heard he  
  
was very kind.  
  
Fredegar was very uneasy about this entire greet. It was too welcoming for his  
  
likings. He felt like something was wrong. Something was very wrong. He glanced  
  
around suspiciously at all the peaceful elves. He wondered if Enelya would believe his  
  
suspicions. She wasn't always as keen as himself.  
  
Enelya's head felt very light and blank. Her heart had always desired to see  
  
elves, and now she was to see the king. She smiled happily as the elf stopped in front  
  
of a door and lightly knocked it. There was no immeadiate answer, but the elf opened  
  
the door none the less. She stepped inside and looked into the face of the king. She  
  
gasped. 


End file.
